PowerHouse Enterprises is persistently chasing that sweet trifecta of style, economics, and sustainability. This house here, built in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is en route to get LEED Platinum certification. Says Quincy Vale, founder and President of PowerHouse: "Overall, green is good, but the things that work are health and money. Unless homeowners save money from their investment, I'm not sure it's going to sell." I think he's hitting it right on the head with that statement.

Whether you are looking for organic fabric for upholstery, curtains, or a headboard, it is definitely a challenge to find. You would think that by now there would be plenty of companies to choose from with selections similar to regular fabric, but there aren’t. Pick Hemp, founded in the early 1990′s, has one of the best collections of eco-friendly fabrics on the market. They offer a range of materials including hemp, silk blends, organic cotton, and soybean and bamboo. Pricing is incredibly reasonable compared to the other options on the market with a range from $4 – $14 /yard.

I was incredibly excited to discover that American Olean, a large well-known tile company, is offering products made of recycled materials. As we all know, there are a lot of great eco-friendly building materials out there, but it can be a challenge to access them, especially if you don’t live on the West Coast. Well, here is a product that you can find at virtually any store that sells tile and certain styles are even available at Lowe’s. Not that I would suggest Lowe’s over your neighborhood tile store, but it’s there as an option, if you need it.

3form has a line of great eco-friendly materials. One of their products, Chroma, is a solid surface material suitable for countertops, tabletops, vanities, and anything else your imagination can dream up. The best part about the Chroma line is the color choices. There is a beautiful palette of brights, bolds, neutrals, and earth tones to choose from. The bright colors are candy-like and would make a truly unique and bold statement in an otherwise neutral room. The fascinating thing about Chroma is it’s reclaim potential. Chroma can be sent back to 3form and they can change the color of the material — and this can be done over and over again.

Enviro Board is not only a product but a technology. As you can see from the video below, Enviro Board is able to process up to a ton of straw at one time and convert it into a panel product to be used in construction. The process can convert many varieties of waste fibers, such as wheat, rice, rye, barley, oat straws, flax, cane, elephant grass, etc., into low-cost building panels. The award-winning product is non-toxic; resistant to fire, termites, mold, and mildew; earthquake and hurricane stable; and qualifies for LEED points. And it can be used in the construction of virtually any type of structure in various applications.